Scrabble Tiles

I took the girls to an estate sale this morning.  I had no idea what I was looking for, but I figured it was an "I'll know it when I see it" situation.  I ended up finding some drift wood to use in my guest bedroom, which the woman told me her dad had enjoyed collecting on the Oregon coast.  I also found an OLD game of Scrabble for $1 and that reminded me that I'd been wanting to use Scrabble letter tiles in some projects!


Isn't that the perfect word for this display? 



This is Camille exactly two years ago!  I can hardly believe it's been that long!  This beautiful photograph was taken by my good friend Becky of Studio 623 Photography. That's probably not useful info to you unless you live in Oregon, but she's a great photographer!  We'll be getting some new family photos done soon (or as soon as I set it up with her!) :)


Jenny


Linking up to..
Tip Junkie handmade projects
I Heart Nap Time

Spring Wreath

64 degrees and sunny!  That's the weather today for my area of the Pacific Northwest!  The day we left for Disneyland a week ago, it was snowing!  A little sunshine and warmish temps have definitely put me in the mood for spring.


What's more springy than bright yellow and birdies??  I threw this wreath together in about half an hour.  The base is a pool noodle that I bought for under $2 and taped together to form a circle using painter's tape (I couldn't find anything else!).  The fabric was formerly a shower curtain from Target that I actually bought at Goodwill for $5.  I cut strips off the bottom of the shower curtain, and there is still plenty of fabric left for other projects!  I drew the birds onto navy blue cardstock and cut them out.  Our front porch area is completely covered, so the wreath won't really be exposed to the elements. 




I really love the yellow and navy. That color combo might need to show up somewhere INside my house!





Jenny


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The 36th AVENUE Days of Chalk and Chocolate Photobucket
I Heart Nap Time

Minnie Mouse Shirts

For us, no trip to Disney is complete without adorable homemade Minnie t-shirts. :)  Last year, I purchased two Minnie head iron-on decals from an Etsy shop, sewed on a bow, and the shirts were adorable!  This year I knew I had to learn how to use my new Silhouette Cameo and make them myself!  I was hesitant to do it, so much so that I actually looked up the Etsy shop I bought the decals from last year!  The shop doesn't exist anymore, so I took that as a sign that it was time to conquer the Silhouette. 



Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the process because I did most of this project the night before we left! 

- I used plain white t-shirts from Old Navy.  I love their shirts because of the cute girly details, but the ruching at the neck does make it hard to iron on the decal.  I had to stretch it over the end of the ironing board which worked fine.
- The fabrics I used are Michael Miller Ta Dot in Lagoon and Raspberry.
- To create the decal, I used Heat 'n Bond Ultra and adhered it to a square of fabric according to the package directions.
- In Silhouette Studio I actually designed the head myself just using the circle tool.  I put two on the page so I could cut them out together. 
- I placed both pieces of fabric with the Heat 'n Bond attached on my cutting mat.  I set the blade to a 7 and had it double cut.  I think the speed was a 2 or 3.
- Once they were cut, I peeled the finished heads off the mat and ironed them onto the shirts!  I sewed a bow to each shirt and used clear nail polish to seal the ends. 



I'm not practiced enough with my sewing maching to sew around the decals, which is why I used Heat 'n Bond Ultra. :)  These actually wash really well though and still look pretty cute!  After the decals were made this project only took a few minutes per shirt.  I almost made two more in different colors, but realized I already had far more outfits for the girls than days in our trip!  



Jenny

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Oopsey Daisy Days of Chalk and Chocolate

Birthday Adventure Book

Yesterday we flew home from a fantastic trip to Disneyland!  We were able to celebrate Camille's 3rd birthday there and we spent time with the girls' California grandparents.  Everyone had a great time, although we ended the trip exhausted and ready for some much needed rest! 
We decided to keep the trip a surprise from the girls, mostly because they have no sense of time, so telling them ahead of time would just lead to a daily Q and A over when, where, what, etc.  Camille has been to Disneyland a few times and Disney World once, so we didn't really need to prepare her for what to expect.  She's very interested in going on adventures right now though, so I decided to make her an adventure book that would tell her the story of what we were doing.  We gave it to her in the car on the way to the airport.  She was definitely confused at first, but started getting excited as we answered her (many) questions! 

I was struggling with how to make the book (she currently carries around our Entertainment book and calls it her 'adventure book') and what to put in it.  I had an epiphany one day after remembering this book ChiWei from One Dog Woof made for her son.  I loved her idea and I realized this would be the perfect way to use it! 

The book started as a board book from the dollar section at Target. It only had ten pages, which was perfect for this project!  The pictures came from google images and I copied them into Photoshop Elements to add the captions.  I used rubber cement to glue them to the pages which took me back to all the school projects I did many moons ago. :) 



This is such a great technique for personalizing books for the kiddos!  Camille loved her book and we can't wait to go back again!


Jenny


Linking up to...
Tip Junkie handmade projects

Coral Silhouettes

So in addition to my glass float inspired vase, I also created some art for my 'vaguely coastal' guest bedroom.  My theming is becoming less and less vague, as you can see. :)


These were really easy to make.  I started with three 18x24in. canvases and contact paper.  After doing a little coral research, I drew three different coral shapes onto the contact paper and cut them out.  The bright corally orange is a color that comes from the bedding.  I adhered the cut out coral stencils to the canvases and used a roller to paint over each canvas until it was covered.  When the paint was dry, I removed the stencils and they were done!  I also ended up sanding a little to give them a slightly weathered look, but it isn't that noticeable. 


Other than cutting out the coral on the left, this project was quick and easy.  I finished it in a day!  The guest bedroom is coming together!






Jenny

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CraftOManiac
handmade projects


One Artsy Mama Whipperberry

Glass Float Inspired Vase

I've been working on decorating what I like to call our "vaguely coastal themed" guest bedroom and bathroom.  I've painted some of the furniture with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and I am obsessed. You'll see that in an upcoming post.  But for now, I'm going to show you an idea that turned out just as I'd hoped it would! 

I have a few large vases that I want to repurpose.  The one I used for this project is about 30 inches tall and has been in our bedroom, but doesn't really work there anymore.  Because of the bluish color of the vase, I had a vision of covering it in a net similar to the old Japanese glass floats.  After researching how to tie nets for glass floats I discovered this tutorial. 

I chose a sisal rope, which isn't technically correct, but I wanted it to have a loose, weathered look.  I started with a ring, which I made by fusing the ends with clear tape. :)

The next step was to connect my ropes to the ring.  It was EXACTLY the same as making a tied tutu, which I've done many times! I added eight at about 8 ft. each, so each end was about 4 ft. long.

I had to stare at the picture of the knot for awhile to figure out how to tie it, but I'm happy to say that I have mastered whatever knot that is! :)  I could do it all day, but I have no idea where else I'll use it.  This rope was tough to work with because it didn't tighten very easily, but I liked the look.

Here is the finished product!

I finished the top by adding a second ring there and tying the last knots to the ring.  There were dangly ends so I just tucked them under the knots.


I love that it looks exactly how I pictured it!  That doesn't happen with all of my craft projects. ;)



Jenny


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Remodelaholic
Days of Chalk and Chocolate One Artsy Mama Weekend Bloggy Reading
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Positively Splendid handmade projects